Check Point Advisories

Microsoft Windows Media Player Arbitrary File Download (MS03-017; CVE-2003-0228)

Vulnerability
Protection

Check Point Reference:	CPAI-2005-343
Date Published:	30 Dec 2009
Severity:	High
Last Updated:	Wednesday 30 December, 2009
Source:
Industry Reference:	CVE-2003-0228
Protection Provided by:	Security Gateway R81, R80, R77, R75
Who is Vulnerable?
Vulnerability Description	Microsoft Windows Media Player is an application that is used to play various media files, such as those compressed with AVI, MP3, MPG formats and so on. Windows Media Player runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system. Windows Media Player has the ability to change its user interface and general appearance using skins, which are files with the WMZ extension containing an XML document that describes the skin behavior and appearance. There exists a vulnerability in the way Microsoft Windows Media Player processes downloaded Media Player Skin files. The flaw is caused by a lack of sanitization of the skin file name, leading Windows Media Player to place a downloaded file to an arbitrary location with an arbitrary file name. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by placing a malicious executable file in the system-wide Startup folder or by overwriting critical system or application files. Upon triggering the vulnerability, Windows Media Player will be activated if it was not. The Media Player will download the malicious file and save it to the attacker specified path. If the file already exists, the user will be prompted for overwrite confirmation. Once the malicious file is executed, the behavior of the target is dependent to the intention of the attacker-supplied code.

Protection Overview

This protection will detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability.

In order for the protection to be activated, update your Security Gateway product to the latest IPS update. For information on how to update IPS, go to SBP-2006-05, click on Protection tab and select the version of your choice.

Security Gateway R80 / R77 / R75

In the IPS tab, click Protections and find the Microsoft Windows Media Player Arbitrary File Download (MS03-017) protection using the Search tool and Edit the protection's settings.
Install policy on all Security Gateways.

This protection's log will contain the following information:

Attack Name: Media Player Enforcement Violation.
Attack Information: Microsoft Windows Media Player arbitrary file download (MS03-017)